EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION – Part One

Normally we think communication is complete once we have conveyed the message: "I don't know why it was not done. I had asked him to do it." Chances are that the message was not perceived properly. A message hasn't been communicated successfully unless the receiver understands it completely. How do you know it has been properly received? By two-way communication or feedback.

Mr. Santosh Babu, says, one of Most problems arise because people cannot sustain effective communication. Cultivating the art of listening helps to build bridges and enhance relationships.

What does a communication process involve? You have an idea that you need to communicate, and a message is sent to the receiver, either verbally or non-verbally. The receiver then translates the words or nonverbal gestures into a concept or information. Let's take, for example, this message: "You are very intelligent." Would this message carry the same meaning to the receiver every time you voice these words?

All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Thus begins Leo Tolstoy's epic Anna Karenina. What he meant, perhaps, is that communication is complete when the mind is happy and uninhibited, and distortion creeps in when the mood is sullen and sad. Most problems in an organization, family or group are the result of people failing to communicate. Haven't you often said "You don't understand what I say" or words to that effect? Communication is the exchange or flow of information and ideas between one person and another. Technically, it involves a sender passing on an idea to a receiver. Effective communication occurs when the receiver comprehends the information or idea that the sender intends to convey.

The success of the transmission depends on two factors-content and context. Content is the actual words or symbols that constitutes a part of the message, known as language. It could be either spoken or written. We all interpret words in our own ways, so much so that even simple messages could be understood differently.

Context is the way the message is delivered-the tone, expression in the sender's eyes, body language, hand gestures, and state of emotion (anger, fear, uncertainty, confidence and so on). As we believe what we see more than what we hear, we trust the accuracy of nonverbal behavior more than verbal behavior. So when we communicate, the other person notices two things: What we say and how we say it.